Abstract:
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) continue to have significant
negative consequences in low and middle-income countries.
Many African countries have been unable to effectively utilise
NCD prevention and control policies because their legal and
health personnel have often limited knowledge and skills for using
relevant legal and policy frameworks in an impactful manner. Law
and public health programmes in universities within East Africa
rarely tackle legal and regulatory NCD prevention and control
measures as part of the necessary interventions against NCDs and
their risk factors, including unhealthy diets and physical inactivity.
There is often minimal to no inter-faculty academic interaction
between law and public health disciplines, leading to a fragmented
approach to NCD prevention and control. To address these
challenges, a number of academic initiatives have been undertaken
in the region to improve multidisciplinary academic engagement
on legal approaches to NCD prevention and control. For instance,
a multidisciplinary Academic Working Group (AWG) was
created within select universities in East Africa with a view to,
among others, enhancing the capacity of law and public health
academics in East Africa to deliver programmes that integrated
legal approaches to NCD prevention and control. A toolkit on
regulatory approaches to NCDs in East Africa was developed
to provide a resource for the incorporation of law and NCDs in
university curricula, and trainings were provided to academics
from law and public health departments to enhance their capacity
at the intersection between law and public health. This paper uses
the experience of Moi University to explore the role of academic
institutions in strengthening the capacities of legal and public
health graduates to promote physical activity and healthy diets
in Africa. It also discusses the potential role of higher education
institutions in building bridges between law and public health
disciplines in the prevention and control of NCDs.